This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

In this ‘series’ we are discussing the ‘Special Voices’ which emerged on the horizon of HFM in the years of Seventies, and who in their own way have left an indelible mark in the minds of ‘music lovers’ leaving behind legacy of many many memorable songs.

These ‘Special Voices’ are those singers who make their entry in Hindi Film Music when the legends like Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor among Male Singers and Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, among female singers were already ruling the Hindi Film Music scene. Still, these new voices, when they entered into HFM, took the audience by storm. Some of them were successful enough and popular too, and they continue to sustain for a long time.

However, some, though they shine very brightly as they appear on the scene, but were not able to sustain for a long time and slowly fade away from the scene and may be from the memory of many people too. In any case all of them gave us many fabulous songs and memories to cherish forever. Some of these Singers continued to enjoy being favorites among music directors and audience and/ or both and were successful in keeping themselves going and singing.

But some were not lucky enough and were sidelined with or without any reason. Politics, ego, discrimination and hypocrisy play their roles around us in every sphere of life, and Cinema too has always been influenced by these factors. Many talented people have been affected by this. And so, if one compares the number of songs their final tally read one will conclude that they were not successful or popular as the other established singers of their time who were ruling the charts at that time.

But, numbers are not the true test and so in these cases they will not justify the immense talent these people possess.

One of such talented Singer is the name – Anwar Hussain or Anwar as he is better known by. The voice that was said to be the ‘closest’ to, and having a ‘strange resemblance’ with the voice of Rafi Saab.

Anwar was born on 1st February, 1949 in Mumbai. His father Aashiq Hussain was an accomplished harmonium player and assistant to the famous Music Director Ghulam Haider. His father also used to play sitar. This familiar film and music background inspired young Anwar to take on music and singing. Looking at his interest in singing, his father took him to Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan for training in classical music. Here Anwar took a rigorous training for more than ten years.

Simultaneously he was also doing stage shows where he used to sing songs of Rafi Saab. He was noticed by the famous S. Hazara Singh who took him to Poona to sing with his musical group. While Anwar was going around doing the stage shows and singing in marriage functions, he always wanted to do playback singing for movies. His friends were also encouraging him always and telling him that his voice was very much similar to that of Rafi Saab’s voice.

Music director Kamal Rajasthani who was also struggling then to establish himself as a music-director in Hindi film world, spotted Anwar during one of his stage shows and he gave him a break as a playback singer in the movie ‘Mere Ghareeb Nawaaz’ (1973). Kamal Rajasthani also gave him further training to polish his talent.

Anwar made his debut in Hindi films with this song ‘Kasmein Hum Apni Jaan Ki Khaaye Chale Gaye’. Though initially he rehearsed for a different song but was finally given this solo and to sing. It so happened that Rafi Saab was present in the same studio where mixing of this song was being done and when Rafi Saab listened to this song, he asked his secretary when did he recorded this one. One can easily assume that the praise and showering coming straight from the ‘living legend’ then would have been more than enough for someone to establish himself in the industry and make a great career.

However, unfortunately, ‘stars’ were not in favor of Anwar and his career didn’t take off after his debut as he expected it to be. When he recorded his first song he was just twenty years old. So, it was still a long way to go for him. But in spite of the ‘perfect start’ with ‘Mere Ghareeb Nawaaz’, he had to wait for almost four years to get his next chance to sing in Hindi films.

And that too came up after lot of struggle and making visits to several music directors. As told by Anwar himself he used to visit many music directors and play his first recorded song to get work. Many of them appreciated him, but also told him that since Rafi Saab was already there so they didn’t see any reason to have him song for them. In a very recent interview of 2016 Anwar has given vent to his feelings, and his mistakes too, which he admits were mainly responsible to ruin his career in HFM.

Well, coming back to his looking for work, he met many of the leading and famous music directors of that time but nothing materialized. Finally, when he contacted Mehmood who was then busy in the making of ‘Kunwaara Baap’ (1974). He got some respite, as Mehmood assured him to give songs in his next movie ‘Janta Hawaldar’ (1979). Mehmood took him to music director Rajesh Roshan. The latter took him on as a playback singer, without asking him any questions, as he was aware of Mehmood’s ‘music sense’.

And after that as we are all aware the songs of ‘Janta Hawaldar’ were liked immensely by the public specifically “Hamse Ka Bhool Huyi“and “Teri Aankhon Ki Chaahat Mein”.

The song that was first recorded for this movie was “Teri Aankhon Ki Chaahat Mein”. After recording, Mehmood took to play it for Rajesh Khanna who was shooting at ‘Filmalaya Studios’ for another movie. When he listened to this song his reaction was – “Bade dinon ke baad Rafi saab ne bade mood mein gaana gaya hai”.

His career lasted for almost twenty years from 1973 to 1993. And as mentioned by him in the interview on RS TV he sang about 1000 to 1500 songs for the movies (I am not aware if this is only for Hindi Movies or it includes other language movies too. Knowledgeable readers are requested to throw more light on this.)

In this same interview the anchor noted and I also vaguely remembered that people initially thought that Anwar was the son of Rafi Saab. It should be noted here that from 1973 to 1980 when Rafi Saab was still alive, he got very less opportunities of singing in movies. Though he got the opportunity to sing with Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Suresh Wadkar, Asha Bhonsle, Sudha Malhotra and others he didn’t get that much if we compare it with other singers and that too specially Rafi Saab himself had said about him that he is the best one who could fill the gap after him.

But nothing magical happened and thus a talented singer’s career come to a sad end.

There are many of his songs which I like or which had been popular, however I have mentioned above only those songs which give me ‘nostalgic’ feeling most. So far (if the data is updated and correct) we have only eleven of his songs posted on the blog; and not a single one of his from the melodious musical ‘Ahista Ahista’ has been posted so far on the blog. But, well, that gives us an opportunity to discuss them in future.

Today’s song is closer to my heart and very nostalgic for me. For today’s post initially, I strongly felt to share the song “Nazar Se Phool Chunti Hai Nazar” from ‘Aahista Aahista’, but I skipped it for future. The second option was the beautiful song from ‘Janta Hawaldar’ – “Teri Aankhon Ki Chaahat Mein” (this was available and shared by me long back in 2012, but still to be posted). However, for today, I have selected this song from ‘Be-Shaque’ (1980). Because this way I can also introduce this movie on the blog.

This was a song in my vague memory and I was sure that it was sung by Mohd Rafi. It was in my wish list of the songs that I wish to see on our blog. Before I could search and prepare for it one fine day I noticed that it has been posted for the film ‘Laal Bangla’ (1966). But when I checked again, I found that it does not have the same lines that were in my memory for so long. Confused, I keep on searching and finally succeeded in getting the song which I think I have heard many many years back. Now I got to know that this is sung by Anwar and not by Mohd Rafi. But interestingly, the music for the films ‘Laal-Bangla’ and the movie for today’s song, is composed by the same music director Usha Khanna. The lyrics of this song are penned by Nandi Khanna.

I have not watched this movie and would request our knowledgeable readers to throw more light on this film and the songs from this film. Also, I would like to note here that when I shared this song long back I had only the video of this song which has only one stanza. At that time I thought the song was only this one stanza. Now after almost five years I have been able to find the full version of this song (but audio only) which is being presented with this post today.

The film ‘Be-Shaque’ was directed by Kashinath for Surya Gayatri Productions, Bombay. It had Yogita Bali, Mithun Chakravarty, Sonia Sahni, Jalal Agha, Amrish Puri, Asha Chandra, Suresh Chatwal, Mohan Choti, Pental, Raj Bibra and Shakti Kapoor. This movie has four songs (as per HFGK Vol-V) – two penned by Anjaan, and one each by Ravindra Rawal and Nandi Khanna. Music is by Usha Khanna. Anwar, Asha Bhonsle, Suresh Wadkar and Usha Khanna gave their voices to the songs in this movie. On screen this song is lip synced by Mithun Chakravarty.

(Sources – Rajya Sabha TV – ‘Guftagoo’ with Anwar and other articles on singer Anwar available on internet)

Today 1st February being the sixty-ninth birth anniversary of Anwar Hussain or Anwar, let us wish a very happy birthday to him and a healthy and peaceful life ahead. Enjoy this wonderful song. . .

This article is written by Bharat Upadhyay, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Jaidev Ki Non-Filmi Suraavali – 01
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Thanks to the help of Researchist Sadanandbhai and few more quotes from here and there, this is going to be quite different to my usual writing of short preface to the presentation of the song.

In my series ‘Genius of Jaidev’, I have presented about 60 filmy songs of Jaidevji, which were not covered on our musical Blog. I am unable to locate few more film songs of Jaidev ji, which are obscure, as I am a poor RESEARCHER. (In spite of the fact that I worked for 40 years in a RESEARCH Institute.)Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

‘Shehzaadi’ (1947) is a film about which not much information is available online except that it was produced under the banner of Shalimar Pictures owned by WZ Ahmed and the film belonged to the costume drama genre. I had searched extensively on the internet about the star cast and the director but drew a blank. Earlier, I had even a doubt whether the film was actually released.Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Missing Films of 1960s – 32
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At the beginning of this month, June 1st, I had a personal reminder to myself – passing away anniversary of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas. I was wanting to do a brief remembrance post. Other “things” intervened and the day came and went. Then, it so happened that on the 15th June, there was a set of reminders and requests for the birth centenary celebrations of Sajjaad Husain. Not many “things” intervened that day, and I was able to locate a rare recording of a song from film ‘Dharam’ (1945), as yet unposted, and was able to post the remembrance article in good time. You may remember the title line of that song “Chali Pawan Purvaai, Chali Pawan”.Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Sajjaad Hussain – a name that invokes a feeling of rare and precious stones. Treasures that are scarce, and extremely hard to come by. Treasures that are small in numbers to start with anyway. And treasures that are extremely valuable, like diamonds of unusual and endearing qualities. Diamonds imbued with qualities that invoke surprise in how the emotions blend with the words, that blend into the music, that is breathtaking at times. Treasures always number very few. Songs composed by Sajjaad Sb are such precious treasures, discoveries of the remaining few of which is always a titillating celebration for the aficionados.Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

5th June is celebrated as ‘World Environment Day’ all over the world every year. The theme for this year is “Connecting People to Nature“.

I am approaching today’s post in a different manner. Instead of going into the details of the environmental agencies, their history and purpose, the significant environmental issues being faced by humanity on this planet, etc. I am thinking of our Hindi films and their music. The nature is so intimately connected herein. We cannot imagine our Hindi Film Music without ‘connecting with nature’.Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

This article is written by Bharat Upadhyay, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Genius of Jaidev – 36
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1969 film ‘Jiyo Aur Jeene Do’ was produced by Apsara Arts, Bombay (now Mumbai) and directed by B Mastaan. The star cast consisted of Tanuja, Shailesh Kumar, Jeevan, Helen, Mohan Choti, Chand Usmani, Uma Dutt, Kundan, Meenakshi etc. Jaidev composed the music and there were two lyricists for the film, Naqsh Layalpuri and Hasrat Jaipuri.Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

One of the objectives of this series is to launch the missing films from this decade 1971-1980 on the blog; rather it is the foremost objective. So those, then one by one all the films for all the calendar years (of this decade) are covered in the blog.

And, still, there are many films from the very first year i.e. 1971 of this decade that are yet to make a debut on this blog. I have not watched many of these films too and also in many cases have never heard their songs before. But, HFGK has made it possible for me that I came to know about such films and can search for their songs.Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

“Sone Pe Suhaaga”, as we say in India. First it was the momentous 10K milestone in July last year (20 Jul 2014). Then a little while ago, on the close of the previous financial year (31 Mar, 2015) we had the auspicious and ‘Badhaai Waala” 11K milestone. And then today, we have the next level ‘1’ added, taking the auspiciousness and ‘badhaai’ to the next level on the scale.

Welcome all to the next important century milestone on this blog. After we had the invasion of the blog by an army of eleven thousand young ladies, I mean, after the “Gyaarah Hazaar Ladkiaan” made their auspicious and enchanting appearance a little over a month ago, we have added another 100 wonderful songs to bag of magic that this blog is now transforming into. This segment has been relatively slower, taking exactly thirty two days to complete this leg of the journey. Of course we have an excuse for it. But we are not going to talk about it today. Maybe someday later, hopefully sooner than later. But not today. After getting over with the customary greetings and welcome and congratulations, I want to talk about a friend, a very dear friend. And in our lingua-franca, the term ‘a dear friend’ evidently implies a lover of music.Read more on this topic…